It's probably not surprising to most people that cold-calling is ineffective in today's selling environment.  Unsolicited telephone calls are an unwanted interruption to busy executives.  Successful salespeople are turning to social selling to reach today's busy buying executives on their terms.  I define social selling as the practice of using social proof to sell your company's products and services.  Wikipedia defines social proof as follows:  "Social proof, also known as informational social influence, is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others reflect correct behavior for a given situation."  For example, consider coming across two ice cream parlors as you walk down the street - one has a line of customers waiting in the doorway and the other is empty.  Which one would you choose?  Most people would consider the long line waiting for ice cream at the first parlor as social proof that it has the better ice cream. 

Here are 3 social selling tactics to improve your sales results:

Use LinkedIn to Set Sales Appointments

I recently spoke with a friend who has started using LinkedIn to set sales appointments for her HR outsourcing business.  She has been so successful with this tactic that she has given up cold-calling.  She sent 15 well-crafted messages that had titles that showed the benefit of meeting with her and a brief message requesting an appointment.  She got 3 meetings as a result - a 20% response rate.  She was successful in her efforts because she offered social proof of the benefit of meeting with her:

• She clearly stated the benefits of meeting with her in her message and offered examples of other customer's results with numbers (e.g. - saved 20% by outsourcing HR.)
• Her approach offered the buyer the opportunity to view her profile on LinkedIn as social proof of her experience and success in working with other customers.

Center of Influence Selling

Center of influence selling involves forming a group of business associates in unrelated industries that sell to similar customers to help each other expand their networks.  My center of influence group includes the HR outsourcing professional mentioned above, a commercial real estate broker, an IT outsourcing company and an attorney.  We meet monthly to share ideas and to find ways to introduce each other to potential business partners.  We're all in unrelated industries, but we all sell to the same target market - small and mid-sized businesses.  The social proof offered in a center of influence referral is the recommendation from a trusted business associate.  It's important to have the right people in your group - everyone has to commit to giving before receiving.  Social selling through centers of influence is an effective way to meet the right people to buy your products and services on their terms.

Respond to Inbound Leads with Social Media

Businesses that use inbound marketing to generate leads produce a lot of "top-of-the funnel" contacts.  These leads are generally not ready to buy - they are educating themselves on the problems they are facing and gathering information on potential solutions.  If you call this lead after they download your eBook, you risk coming across as a desperate stalker.  An alternate approach is to reach out to this person with a soft social media message.  For example, you could send a tweet or a LinkedIn message saying:  "Thanks for downloading our eBook.  I'd be happy to help you if you have any questions."  This approach gives the lead the option to respond to you on their terms (or not to respond at all.)  For most people, social media messages are an informal way to communicate.  This approach also allows the lead to gather social proof on you and your company by viewing your social media profiles.

These are just a few tactics to consider adding to your social selling arsenal.  How are you using social proof in your selling efforts?